“I started thumbing through my phone and there were more than a thousand messages. They were vile. I’ve never had that before in my whole career. When I got home to Sydney, our house was put on alert.

“I was picked up from the airport by the police. It was really, really serious. I don’t like attention as a referee. I want to do my job without any fuss and then leave. The reality is that after that game, and for the first chunk of this year with all the noise that’s been out there, it’s been tough. Really, really tough.

“Imagine if I got the call wrong?”.

Sunday’s game will see Cecchin become only the seventh official in NRL history to reach the 300-game landmark.

Canberra coach Ricky Stuart was critical of the “weak individuals” he blamed for driving Cecchin out of the game.

“It’s sad to see because I believe ‘Cecc’ is one of the top referees in the competition and to lose him, we’re losing a lot of experience and ability and it’s sad for the game because we can’t afford that,” he said.

“People out there have to sit down and really think about what he’s saying.” (Courtesy BBC Sports)

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